The weight we carried
by AFD-Scipio
Summary: Bobby Mercer's new to the whole parenting thing when fifteen year old Lily comes into his life and family. Will he be able to handle the pressures of being a parent or will he melt like the ice of an outdoor hockey rink in May?
1. So it begins

**A/N:** This is my first "official" fan fiction based off a movie please read and tell me what you think. Thank you to my awesome beta reader AM Ward who is writing her own Castle based fan fiction so go check it out. Please don't be mad if I don't update often I'm in my senior year of college, carrying 17 credit hours, holding down two jobs, and doing a thesis project. Enjoy.

**Prologue**

Bobby Mercer sat on the front porch of his mothers house looking out at the children playing a pick up game of street hockey. He thought back to the days that it was his mother Evelyn sitting on those steps knitting watching him and his three brothers battle the other kids on the block. They would always win because they didn't necissarily play fair by children standards, but it always brought back the fondest memories. It had been almost six months since he'd come back to Detroit for his mother's funeral and to avenge her unjustifiable death. Six months since one of his own brother's had been killed in the war that began and ended with the Mercer clan. While he watched the kids on the street he thought of the choices his mother had made in her life to be able to take in four kids in arguably the worst condition the foster care system could leave a child in and make such a difference. Jerry was married to Camile, had two beautiful girls with another child on the way and a budding appartment complex. Angel was married to his La Vida Loca, Sophia, and were trying to get pregnant.

"What do I have to show for the past six months." Bobby thought to himself.

He'd fixed up his mother's house to its former glory preshooting, and he had a steady job refferring for the hockey matches for the rink downtown. He wanted more for his life, to make a difference in a world that needed it. He wanted to make his mother proud. He'd come to the conclusion that to make his mother proud he would apply to be a foster parent like his mother had done before taking in him and his three very hard to manage brothers. He was just worried about the system not allowing him to take children in to his home considering his personal past history and everything that had happened after his mother's death.

**Chapter 1**

Bobby made his way into the social services office in downtown Detroit. It seemed the entire office stopped. The social workers just starred in the direction of the eldest Mercer. Bobby made his way straight to the back office where he knew the only social worker in the office who would give him a fighting chance.

"Hey Queenie!" Bobby sauntered into the small paper covered office.

"Bobby Mercer. What can this old lady do for you today?" Queenie spun around in her chair to get a good look at the grown man before her.

"I was hoping to do what my mom did for Jerry, Angel, Jack and me. Any chance someone would give this idiot a shot at helping some in need kids?"

"Maybe. If I know one thing Bobby it's that there will be few people in this office to take you seriously let alone let you get your hands on kids stuck in the foster care system, but you're looking at the craziest social worker of the bunch. I know your history as well as I know the history of the kids I'm dealing with. I think there's a case that would be perfect for you. Just fill out this paperwork, and I'll tell you about her." Queenie handed him a monstrous stack of forms to fill out.

"Wait," Bobby looked up from the forms, "her?"

"Yes. Lily was the daughter of a prominent political figure who ran for office with tons of skeletons in his closet. One of them being abusing his daughter. No one knows what the extent of it was or still is. She won't talk to anyone, and she has issues with violence. It sounded like an Evelyn case when she landed on my desk. She's about to be ejected from her foster home, and I'm looking for someone to take her in. You game Bobby Mercer?"

"I don't know how I'll be able to handle a girl when all I've ever known is brother's, but I'll try my best."

"She's more like you than you know Bobby." Queenie smiled.

"What do you mean by that?" Bobby finished filling out the paperwork.

"She fought almost everyday in her high school. She played field hockey at her last school before she got kicked off the team for violent behavior toward her coach. She's been in dance classes which seemed to help until she was about fourteen. No one but she knows what has happened to her other than her father hitting her and her mother watching without doing anything from the ages of four to eight. She's been a ward of the state ever since. I'm giving you this one first because she'll need to be handled with special care. You'll need to be the best version of Evelyn you ever knew Bobby."

"Yes Queenie. Do you know any of her interests? I was thinking of putting her in Jackie's old room. There's music posters pasted all over. I haven't laid a finger on the decor since he passed."

"She likes music. It seems to be the only thing she'll willingly tell us about herself. She has only a small number of belongings she's been able to keep throughout the shuffle. Her phone, an ipod, a stuffed dog and some clothes. You're going to have to buy her anything else she needs. She'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon with a social worker. Gentle Bobby, you're going to have to be gentle. She's a scared child who's most likely been fucked up by the flawed side of the system much like you and Jack, but I have a feeling she's worse than Jack." Queenie handed him a picture of a fifteen year old girl with red hair holding on to a stuffed dog as if it were her life.

"She's pretty for a foster case." Bobby surveyed the picture closely, "So she's fifteen, red-headed irish kid who still has a stuffed animal?"

"We tried to take it when she turned ten, but she wouldn't let us put a finger on it. That's the reason I think she's worse than Jack. Bobby are you sure you're ready for this? She's going to be a handful and a half."

"I'm ready Queenie. The house is too empty for my liking and all my brother's have things going on in their lives. I miss the sound of people in the house. I miss ma and Jack. I'm not trying to replace them if that's what you're thinking. I just want to do right by what ma started, and the only logical way I came to was picking up where she left off and finding kids that are as fucked up as the brothers I have. I know you're taking a big chance on me, and you have no idea how much this means to me to be able to give back. I'm gonna make moms proud."

"I know you are Bobby. I know. My suggestion is to frame this picture, and put it somewhere so she knows that you're in this for the long haul. I knew how Evelyn worked, and it wouldn't surprise me if you won't be able to find a home for her. She's in her teens and has trouble basically tattooed on her forehead. Welcome to foster parenting Bobby Mercer."

Bobby left the office and headed straight for Jerry's. He had to talk to Camille. He had no idea what a fifteen year old girl would need and he knew La Vida Loca would be no help here.


	2. Girls Can Be Bitches

**Chapter 2**

The door flew open and there stood Camille hands on her hips, hair up in a messy bun and sweat pouring down her face. Bobby took two steps back. Camille looked like a bomb of hormones ready to explode, and if there was one thing he didn't need at that moment was another verbal smack down with his brother's wife.

"Hello Camille you're looking gorgeous as ever." Bobby smiled hoping to improve her mood.

"I'm as fat as a cow, can barely tie my shoes anymore, and I've been trying to clean all day. What do you want, Bobby? Jerry won't be home until after five. You know that." Camille looked at him skeptically.

"I need to talk to you actually which is why I'm here when Jerry and the kids aren't home. Do you mind if we talk inside?"

"Fine. What the hell do you need to talk to me for anyways? You're always talking to Jerry about one thing or another what do I have to do with any of that?"

"Well I haven't informed my brothers yet, but I'm becoming a foster parent." Bobby kept his eyes on the carpet, a gesture Camille knew well, "Queenie down in social services gave me my first case today. She arrives tomorrow, and I don't know what to do, what to get, and I'm kind of freaking out. I always assumed I'd get a boy first, but according to Queenie she's just like I was back then and possibly hurt worse than Jackie. I just wanted to do something that would have made ma proud."

"Wait," Camille stopped the waterfall of words rushing out of his mouth, "You're going to be a foster parent for a girl who might have been abused in the foster care system? How old is she?"

Bobby pulled the picture out the file that he'd been holding inside his jacket. He hadn't wanted to wrinkle the picture of his first child. He wanted her to know that she meant something, that there was someone who would take care of her. Camille starred at the picture for a good three minutes every so often looking at Bobby to try and read his thoughts. She finally handed him back the picture smiling.

"Who would have thought that Bobby the roughest of the Mercer clan would end up being just like his mama." Camille ushered him into the kitchen, "She looks about fifteen from what I can tell. You're gonna need a sizable amount of money for new clothes. She'll need tampons or pads, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss. It depends on what she comes with in the first place. You'll need to be able to talk to her about her time of the month or if you prefer I can handle that part of it, but honestly I think you need to be comfortable enough to talk to her. If she doesn't know how to cook you're going to have to learn. You can't just feed her take-out all the time like you eat."

"I know all that. I just don't know how to handle a girl." Bobby plopped down into the nearest chair.

"First you don't handle her. You give her space to adjust. I'm sure you remember what it was like being shuffled from home to home each one a new horror. You need to prove to her that you are nothing like the other foster parents and adults she's met so far in her life who have fucked her up. She may never talk about what happened, but if she does you need to keep a straight face and tell her that you'll never harm her like that. If you have to you're going to have to tell her your story Bobby, and I know that will be hard on you. I'm proud of you doing this. Your mama would be over the moon excited. She always wanted you to stick around Detroit and raise a family of your own by either finding the girl of your dreams or just finding your calling. When are you going to tell the rest of the family?"

"I was thinking tonight at dinner after I got everything set up for her. I'm thinking of giving her Jackie's room. The fairy did always have the cleanest habits of us all."

"I'll cook and call Angel and Sophia over. Being Mrs. Mercer has it's perks." Camille laughed, "Be here by six-thirty or I will tell them myself, and you'll have your brothers to deal with."

"You're starting to sound like her." Bobby smiled remembering his mother, "It's a good thing Cam. I'll be early."

Bobby left the house and went to the local Walgreens knowing he would have to pick up "supplies" eventually, and better now after his talk with Cam than when the kid was dropped off and most likely scared shitless. Bobby remembered almost everything from his past foster home experiences. Even after all the time that had passed and all of the love that Evelyn had shown - he still held onto the horrors that plagued him from the past. Most of the time, he actually wished he could forget about them...mostly the women. The way they'd had the key to the fridge around their neck depriving the kids in the house the basic necessities of life. The women who had been devil worshippers made the children drink the blood of cattle or cats in ritualistic manners. The devout Christian women who, to drive demons out of their foster children had mixed unspeakable things into sauces. (which was why he hated spaghetti), and worst of all the women who would come in the middle of the night while he slept and touch him. He shivered standing in the middle of the store thinking of all the things that had happened to him over the years he'd been in foster care.

He'd tried to imagine on several occasions what Jack had gone through. He'd been the most broken of them all when Evelyn took him in. Bobby had been a freshman in high school at the time, and Jack followed him around like a shadow. Bobby never really knew what happened to Jack - just that it had broken him so badly that any time the boy had tried to talk about it he would shake and pass out. Evelyn had only been able to get Jack to tell her the whole story once, and told the boys that they were never to speak to Jack about it ever again. What had made him so broken Bobby wondered.

How could a fifteen-year-old girl be worse off than Jack? Bobby Mercer was about to find out.


	3. Mercer Family Dinner

**Chapter 3**

Bobby had picked up the most girly smelling things he could find with the help of the beauty advisor. He'd spent a sizable amount of money buying groceries, sheets, and toiletries he figured she would need. He had just enough time to unload the groceries into the cabinets and fridge before he had to leave to get to Jerry's for the family dinner and announcement. His brothers greeted him when he walked through the door and soon he was attacked by his nieces: Amelia and Danielle.

"Uncle Bobby!" they squealed in unison as Bobby allowed the girls to tackle him.

Camille smiled to herself knowing Evelyn, her husband's mother, would be proud of her eldest son. She also knew Bobby and felt the decision he made was the right one. She called everyone to the table and like every time the Mercer brothers were together it was loud. As the dinner calmed down Bobby cleared his throat to rid himself of the lump growing in his throat.

"I have an announcement." he spoke as Camille came back with dessert, "I've decided to follow in ma's footsteps. I went and visited Queenie today to fill out paperwork to become a foster parent."

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Camille sat there hoping she wouldn't be the first one to speak up. She'd already told Bobby what she thought of his decision. Now it was everyone else's turn to respond. She looked from person to person as Bobby began to fidget in his chair.

"Does this mean we'll have a cousin?" Danielle looked up from her slice of pie.

"It depends on if I can find a better home for her than mine. Being a foster parent means I help children who don't have a loving, stable home like you and Amelia have. I help kids who were like me and your daddy when we were younger before Grandma Mercer adopted us."

"So we might not be getting a cousin?" Amelia looked at her uncle tears in her eyes.

"Well the child Queenie gave me is named Lily - she's about fifteen, and I have a feeling that I'll be the only one who will know how to help her like Grandma Mercer did with your daddy, uncle angel, and me."

"Wait you got a foster child already?" Angel looked up, "That was fast. Queenie must have had a case in mind when she saw you in that office. She's been asking Sophia and me about the possibility, but seeing as we're trying to start a family of our own we declined."

"I think it's what ma would have wanted." Jeremiah looked at Bobby, "The house is too quiet right?"

"How'd you guess?" Bobby's face lit up at the unexpected praise.

"I know you Bobby eventually this was bound to happen. It's the Mercer way, but you'll be doing the community a favor."

"I just want to make ma proud."

"She was proud of you when she was alive Bobby. She was always proud of her eldest son." Camille spoke up, "When we talked about you when you were away she just wanted you to be happy. She wanted all her boys to be happy, and now it seems like the remaining two she was worried about have found their road to happiness."

"Well you guys are taking this better than I expected, but on the same card I never expected Queenie to give me a child our type of past. I honestly can't believe that the state of Michigan is willing to give me - a first class fuck up - a chance at raising the next generation." Bobby scoffed.

"You turned out alright from where you came from." Angel said with a mouth full.

"Evelyn Mercer was a saint. I am no saint. I'm just going to be trying my best to make sure that I don't fuck her up any more than she already has been."

"I don't think that's possible. What she probably needs is some space and a lot of love." Sophia finally spoke up, "Just don't call her La Vida Loca. Actually I would prefer if she didn't call me that either. I've calmed down since I married Angel."

"Deal. Well I have to go unpack the rest of what I bought today in preparation of her arrival tomorrow. I'll try to have a family dinner at the house Friday if she's up to it." Bobby stood grabbing his coat from the rack.

"See you soon Bobby." Jeremiah stood to say good-bye to his older brother.

Bobby drove home and entered the deathly quiet house. Soon that will change - he smiled to himself. He couldn't wait to have a chance to make a difference in the life of someone like himself. He finished unpacking the things he had bought setting them in the room and making her bed. Such a simple job, but he knew that when he had come to live with Evelyn Mercer it was what had made all the difference. A freshly made bed and a basket of new things awaiting him in a room that was all his own and not shared by three other children all vying for the attention of the foster parents. He sat on the bed in the room that had once belonged to his mother thinking of all the things he would want to say to her. It was his nightly ritual. He would speak to her as if she were still there. This night he gave her the run down of what he knew of the child coming to live in this house that had made all the difference in his life. He could almost imagine her in the room smiling at him through teary eyes proud of the choice he'd made to stay in Detroit and to possibly start a family the same way she had all those years ago. He fell asleep and woke to his phone alarm giving him an hour before Lily would be walking through that door.


	4. Lily

**A/N: I'm sorry for the delay in updates. I have through chapter 8 written, but updates will be even slower as I'm getting closer to midterms which means buckling down and studying for once in college. I hope you enjoy meeting Lily. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4**

Lily hated the shuffle. She'd been through countless foster homes each more horrifying than the last. She lay awake in the dark corner of the closet in the room she shared with the older six foster children of this particular home. She wondered as the night wore on what new horror awaited her in the next home. She'd got a new social worker since her last transfer. The new one was called Queenie and Lily wasn't sure about the women who looked as old as the dinosaurs. She heard the noise of her worst nightmares as the door creaked open and she heard the fat lug's heavy breathing as he went from bed to bed looking for her.

_How long will it take for him to either find me or give up._ She thought clutching her stuffed animal, _How many years have I dreaded bastards like him?_

His breathing got closer to the closet and Lily curled into a ball praying he'd move on. A baby cried from down the hall and the heavy breathing receded to the hall. Lily ripped open the velcro desperate for the reassurance that the one gift her grandfather gave her before he died was still there. She felt cool metal against her fingers and sighed to herself.

"Good, it's still here," she smiled.

She'd scared the shit out of a few of her past foster parents. They'd called her temperamental, unstable, and requested her be taken to a new house with new horrors. Again her mind drifted to the new home Queenie was placing her in. This would be the seventh home and third social worker. She peered through the small crack of her closet to see the sun peering over the house next door. She bolted out the door grabbed her bag and flew down the stairs before the onslaught of yelling and fighting broke out. It happened every morning, and today it would stop in time for the social worker to show up. It was the same in: every home Lily had been in the parents would act all perfect when a new kid was dropped off, picked up, or a worker visited, but after that was over it was back to the yelling, bickering, and hitting.

She sat on a swing in the middle of a park that overlooked the street. It had been her spot to think. It'd been where she planned her escape over the last few months and then he'd called social services, Queenie had shown up the next day, and the questions just kept coming from all directions. Queenie told her she would be going to a new home in the next week or so, and that she was looking for the perfect couple or person to take her in. It was about ten by her count and the number of chapters she'd read on the self bought, hidden Nook. She shoved it back into the duffle bag under the few clothes she'd bought herself. It was the same thing in every home when a child left before the foster parents let her go from their house they would always look inside the duffle bag under the guise of making sure she had everything, but she knew if she didn't hide the things she held dear, wrapped up in clothes or sewn in hidden pockets, she wouldn't be able to keep it even if she'd earned the money herself.

It happened in the first house. She'd made lemonade and sold it a ways from the house to the people working on a new construction. She'd made enough money to buy a nail polish set. When she left that home a few months later the parents looked in the bag and accused her of stealing from their own daughter who was about her same age. The social worker didn't believe her when she told her that she'd bought it herself. When it happened again in the next two "transitions" she'd realized what was happening, and learned to hide things. The only thing they hadn't been able to touch was her stuffed animal which was always tightly in her grip when she entered or left a home.

"It's about time to head back." She thought shrugging her duffle bag over her shoulder, "Time to face the music of the new horrors that will plague my nights."

She arrived just in time to see Queenie pull up in her old Cadillac. She watched as the old bag shuffled up the drive to knock on the door. Lily stepped around the fence.

"I'm over here." she said quietly, looking at Queenie.

Queenie looked at the teenager before her. She was clutching her heart covered stuffed dog with a duffle bag over her shoulder. Queenie noticed the small bags under the girl's eyes, her near bone thin frame, and the worn shoes adorning her feat. This is a child Bobby Mercer should be able to help she thought for the fiftieth time since being assigned to this case. She smile and offerend her hand which the girl ignored.

"Let's just get this fucking over with. The bastard and his bitch won't even notice I'm missing. Can I put this in your car or what?" Lily said putting up her wall of attitude.

"You sure you got everything?" Queenie eyed her duffle.

"You want the idiots inside to check first?"

"No, I asked you. Why would they need to check?"

"Because it's what every other set of cock sucking foster parents have done for the past seven years."

"Here's the key. Just put your duffle in the trunk, and meet me back here to say your goodbyes." Queenie handed her the key to the Cadillac and watched her huff the duffle bag to the car. She noticed the care with which she set the item in the trunk, and was surprised when she put the stuffed animal in the bag itself. Queenie smiled knowing that this child would be changed by Bobby and Bobby would be changed likewise.


	5. New House of Horrors

**Chapter 5**

Bobby Mercer sat straight up in his bed when the alarm went off. Today was the day he was going to become a parent. It wasn't anything as prolific as Jeremiah had told him, but still the thought made his heart race. He was going to be a father, a foster father, but a father nevertheless. She was due to arrive around eleven-thirty, but he didn't know if Queenie was planning to feed her or if he was supposed to do it. He decided to place a call even though it was only seven-thirty in the morning.

"Queenie, Bobby Mercer." Bobby spoke into the phone.

"I have caller ID smart ass." Queenie smiled to herself, it was good to know he was excited, "Why are you calling me this early?"

"I was wondering if I should have lunch or something prepared when Lily gets here. I want to be welcoming, but not overwhelming. Arriving at a new house never really stuck with me."

"I'm planning on talking to her over a small lunch. I'm picking her up around ten-thirty. So, no Bobby you don't need to make her lunch."

"Ok." Bobby sighed.

"Is that disappointment I hear?" Queenie chuckled

"A little bit. I just want her to know that this is a good home, and not some shit hole."

"I know Bobby, and I'm sure she'll figure that out. Maybe get the house ready for her. Yeah, she'll like that knowing that there's a room just for her, but please don't go crazy."

"When have I ever gone crazy?"

"Bobby you forget I knew your mother. She told me everything."

"Right..." Bobby smiled to himself, "I'll try."

"Good enough." Queenie strolled into her office, "I'll see you around eleven-thirty. Good-bye Bobby.

"Bye, Queenie."

Bobby hung up the phone and looked around the silent house. He'd framed her picture and hung it on the wall next to the picture of Jack. He figured she would probably be the next Mercer adoptee and deserved a spot on the wall. Evelyn had hung their pictures up there to show them their importance to her, and Bobby would be damned if he didn't keep that tradition. There were a few extra holes that were for the other foster kids that had come into the home and left with a loving family able to take care of them. Nobody had come for Bobby or his brothers. He knew that this might be the case here with Lily, and he went about trying to make the house as homey as he remembered it in his life.

The parents opened the door to find Lily standing next to Queenie. They looked down at Lily with a look of disapproval, and she knew that they hadn't noticed her absence. It wasn't a normal occurrence for the foster child to meet with the social worker before the parents opened the door, but it was a normal occurrence, especially in this household, for children that weren't directly related to the foster parents. Lily prayed that this meeting would be done soon.

"There you are darlin'." the bitch drawled, "We've been lookin' all ov'r for ya. Miss Queenie would you like to come inside?"

"Actually I just came to pick up Lily, and seeing as she was all ready to leave when I got here I just thought it would be a good idea to let you know that I arrived, and we're going to leave." Queenie grimaced, "Are you ready to go Lily?"

"Yes ma'am." Lily stepped away from the bastard as he came out on the porch.

"Then we'll be on our way. Here are the keys please wait for me in the car."

Lily complied wondering what Queenie was doing standing on the porch starring down the bastard and his bitch wife. She saw the bastards face as it turned from the fleshy moist peach color to a deep purple red. What was going on over there?

Queenie looked at the couple in front of her. It hadn't gone unnoticed that Lily backed away from both of them as they had stepped out of the house to greet her. She'd noticed things that weren't normal for a fifteen-year-old girl: bags under her eyes, her slight frame, and the almost skeletal look of her face. Queenie was the type of person whom fought the injustices of this world, and hated that there was someone who was reigning injustice on those who'd already been through enough. That's how she'd met Evelyn. They'd become friends over cases like Bobby and Jeremiah. She had reached the end of her sanity rope with couples like the one in front of her, and she was tired of holding her tongue.

"Do you have any idea what that girl in my car has gone through?" Queenie snapped, "She was abused and mistreated by her father, ignored by her mother while her father did things she won't even talk about to her. She's been shuffled through seven different foster homes in the seven years she's been in the system. Each one has reported some type of problem be it stealing or an attitude issue, but the girl I saw standing over there by the fence doesn't seem like the type of child to be that much of a problem unless there's an issue that isn't readily visible. I know you have children of your own, but that does not mean that you can ignore those you choose to bring into your home. If I find out you did anything to that beautiful girl in my car, and trust me I will find out, I will come back here and personally revoke your right to not only be a foster parent but an actual parent as well. It's people like you who give foster care a bad name.

Queenie spat and turned on her heel back to the car. Lily sat there starring out the window wondering what came next. Queenie opened the door brusquely and closed it, fastening her seat belt she started the engine. Queenie shifted the car into drive, and they slowly made their way across town.


	6. The Arrival

**Chapter 6**

The doorbell rang. A TV shut off. Deep Breath in, slow breath out. The door opened and a gangly fifteen-year-old girl shoved her way into the living room. Queenie shrugged her shoulders apologetically. Bobby turned around to see Lily clutching the stuffed dog to her chest on the couch and he flashed back to when Jack arrived.

Jack had shuffled in the door past Evelyn and he stood in the corner clutching a small teddy bear, hair draped into his eyes. It was like the teddy bear would defend him. The girl sitting on the couch reminded him so much of Jack. It was weird, but Queenie had been dead on. She was like Jack, but in some ways worse.

"Lily," Queenie broke Bobby's trance, "please come here and meet your new foster parent Bobby Mercer. Bobby this is Lily."

"Hi Lily." Bobby extended his hand.

"Where's your bitch?" the words flew out of her mouth as she starred at the hand he'd offered, "Sorry, your wife."

"I'm not married, in a relationship, or casually fucking anyone at the moment."

"Oh. I'm Lily."

"Do you want me to show you to your room?"

"Sure."

Bobby led the girl up the stars to Jack's old room. He opened the door and Lily peered around him into the room. Her eyes were drawn to the posters that covered the walls. She skirted around Bobby and threw her duffle on the bed. There was a small desk in the corner along with a window that overlooked the street. Her eyes lit up like fireworks and deadened in the same second. It's too good to be true she thought looking around. She wondered where the other kids were. Where were the multiple beds the smell of children's sweat and tears? She saw Bobby starring at her.

He noticed that her eyes had surveyed the entire room, and had an idea of what had gone through her mind. He thought it was funny that she'd let what he was sure was her true opinion of the foster mothers slip in front of Queenie. She was like a combination of him and Jack when they'd been taken into Evelyn's home. He remembered how his social worker had given him "the look" that said if you don't shut your mouth right now. He leaned against the door-frame waiting for another slip-up.

Lily figured this was the room this particular bastard would show the new kids when they arrived. He probably wanted to make them feel comfortable in his home create a false sense of security so that when things came for them going bump in the night they would have at least one good memory.

"He's single." she thought, "That doesn't bode well for me in this situation." Most of the foster parents were married. All she'd ever experienced were "family" type situations. Not once had she been put in a situation in which there was just one bitch or bastard to deal with. "It's going to be a long night." she looked around still holding her dog tightly.

"Do you want to put that down on the bed?" Bobby looked from her face to the stuffed animal.

"No she stays with me at all times." Lily word vomited again.

"So it's a she. What is her name?"

"Mrs. Lovetts."

"Like from Sweeny Todd?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you a little young for an R-rated movie?"

"Yeah, so?"

"How'd you get in?"

"I fucked the ticket guy in the bathroom before the show."

"Great job." Bobby thought to himself, "Her defenses are up, and you're only making the situation worse."

"Well I'm going to go downstairs and see if Queenie needs me to do anything else. You can get yourself situated in this room. It will be yours as long as you're here."

"You say that now." Lily let out a dry laugh as Bobby made his way down the stairs.

She looked around the room again. There were posters of many bands she loved and a few she didn't even know. The Doors, The Beatles, The Monkees, Led Zepplin, Guns 'N Roses, and The Grateful Dead were bands she recognized and had music from them on her iPod. She turned to her duffle and began the process of hiding. She found that this room afforded many good hiding spaces. It seemed to her as if there had been another foster kid like her in this room. She found loose floorboards that still contained a number of CDs that she would be adding to her collection soon, old toothbrushes, teddy bears, and a neatly folded pile of clothing that looked like boys clothes. She wondered who lived in this room, and what happened to them. Did the man downstairs, who had smiled at her with soft eyes, done something to the child that lived in this room. She made up her mind in that moment she was going to do what she had to to keep herself safe.

She began to put her things away little by little. Her Nook was put away next to the collection of CDs. The old toothbrushes were placed in the trash, and her ipod and headphones went into the space. The clothes she wanted to keep clean and practically perfect replaced the boy clothes which were placed outside the door. She closed the door and reminded herself to breathe as she sat down on the bed. She pulled Mrs. Lovetts to her chest as the tears silently fell from her eyes.

Downstairs Queenie and Bobby sat chatting over a cup of coffee waiting for Lily to come downstairs. Bobby and Queenie both heard the creaking of wood and movement of loose floorboards.

"Just like Jack." Bobby chuckled, "First thing he did was tear apart that room to hide the things that he thought would get stolen from him."

"I have an idea about what was done to her Bobby." Queenie sounded on the brink of tears.

"What do you mean?"

"When I picked her up this morning she was already waiting for me outside the house. When the man of the household came out onto the porch she backed away and she looked at him with such hatred. Bobby you're going to have to tread carefully. From my perspective she's the worst parts of both you and Jack. She's fiercely protective of herself, but honestly think she's broken."

"I'm going to try, Queenie. That's all I can promise."


	7. Preparations

**Chapter 7**

Queenie and Bobby sat talking for a few hours. Queenie told him about some of the other children she had considered giving him to begin his foster parenting, but none of them seemed like a good fit. She had run across Lily's case, and even though she had been a fairly good child something had gone horribly wrong in the course of her foster care experience. Bobby, Queenie thought, could relate to that.

_She won't be the easiest case. _Bobby thought to himself, _But I think in the end she might like it here, and I think I can be a great dad._

"She even gave the mom a look, and did you hear the words that came out of her mouth about you." Queenie chuckled, "Do you think there might be a home in her future?"

"I think she fits in with this family." Bobby took a drink of his coffee, "I'll have to see what the others say about it, but already I'm considering making this girl part of the Mercer family. You say she didn't start of this bad. I'm wondering what happened to her that would make her this difficult? Don't worry Queenie asking if I had a bitch didn't offend me."

"It should have."

"You remember when you came to get me? Did I have a filter? No, I just spoke my mind, and got into loads of trouble. When you found Jack did he ever tell you what he went through? No, he only told ma once, and she told all of us never to ask."

"But you know Evelyn would have never allowed one of her children to use that type of foul language. You're a lot better now than when we first met."

"Yes, but that was my choice to listen to ma. I can't force her to think of women any differently. I'm just wondering what she's calling me in her head when she asked if I had a bitch." Bobby laughed, "The possibilities are endless, and half of them would be correct. I'm no saint, and I'm probably not going to raise a saint either."

"I know that Bobby, but she needs rules. Are you going to be able to provide her with a stable environment in which she can grow?" Queenie stood to place her cup in the sink, "You need to think about that Bobby Mercer. I'll see you in two weeks to see how things are going, and please don't let me down. I'm going way out on a limb for you. Make Evelyn proud."

"I will." Bobby escorted Queenie to the door, and said good-bye. "Lily do you want to come down for dinner now?"

Lily heard his voice from her place on the bed. She tensed. _Now reality sets in. Queenie's gone, and we're all alone. Eventually the other kids will show up, and I'll be shown to my "real" room._ She thought. She slowly moved off the bed being careful to stow Mrs. Lovetts in a new hiding place she'd created. Slowly she descended the steps to find Bobby on the couch.

"So do you want me to attempt to cook or are you feeling more like take-out?" Bobby looked up from the hockey game.

"So where are the other kids?" Lily looked at him in disgust.

"What other kids?"

"The ones you're going to shove me in a room with to be nice to. The ones who are going to tell me the horrors that await me while under your roof."

"I can assure you you're the only foster child living in this house." Bobby turned off the TV and stood up to look at Lily, "So do you want take-out or will you brave my horrible cooking?"

"I don't believe you, and if you're offering take-out I'll take it. Make it Chinese or Pizza or I'll lock myself in my fucking room." Lily leaned against the wall as far away from Bobby as she could get.

"What Chinese do you like?"

"Crab Rangoon and Curry Chicken no vegetables."

"I'll call and it should be about twenty minutes. Can you wait that long?"

"I think I'll manage." She snorted.

"You wanna talk about it?" Bobby tried to directly address the issue at hand.

"No sir."

"Then what do you want to do for the twenty minute wait?"

"I'll be in my room. Just yell when you want me to be down here."

"Okay."

Lily headed to her room and pulled out the cleaning kit. This Bobby Mercer was being way to friendly with her. No family offered her a choice before between home cooking or take-out. She closed the door, but found no lock. She cursed to herself. She situated herself on the floor facing the door, opened the Velcro pouch on Mrs. Lovetts, and pulled out the Walther pk380 her grandfather had given her when he found out about her father's indiscretion. This was what she did when she was nervous. Normally she would have had to find a closet in which to clean the handgun, but in this house she had her own room so she could spread out. She began the methodical process of cleaning. This was the only thing that helped her mind transfer from horror house to horror house. She had just finished putting the kit away when there was a knock on the door.

"Dinner's here. I would appreciate it if you would come down and sit at the table with me while we eat." Bobby said through the door.

"I'll be down in a second." Lilly said relieved he didn't just barge in.

They sat at the table silently. Bobby had no idea what to say, and Lily wasn't going to be the first one to crack. She refused to look at him instead focusing on the food in front of her. The curry chicken was delicious, and the Rangoon when dunked in the spice, was heaven.

"You dip your crab Rangoon in the curry sauce?" Bobby's eyes went wide.

"What the fuck is it to you?" Lily spat back.

"It's just weird. Most people like the sweet and sour sauce."

"I've hated it since I was little, and my grandpa made me and my cousin Nick try it once when we were out." she finished barely above a whisper.

"I might have to try that one day." Bobby smiled.

"I'm done. May I be excused?"

"Sure."

Bobby's face fell. He had wanted to talk, but there was a wall-something he wasn't seeing through. He finished his dinner and heard her moving around upstairs getting ready for bed. _What did they do to you?_ he thought, _How am I going to get through to her?_ He heard Jack's, now Lily's, door open, the bed creak as it accepted a new owner which was soon followed by quiet sobs. Slowly the sobs died down turning into light snores. Bobby smiled to the empty downstairs. It felt good to have someone else in the house, even if she was going to be a pain in his ass.


	8. Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?

**Chapter 8**

Lily used to sleep like the dead. She could barely remember the last time she'd slept through the night. The only time she was calm at night was when the cool metal of her pk380 was in hand. It was the one thing that relaxed her enough to drift into a restless sleep. There was a soft creak outside her door and her eyes slid open waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Bobby slowly climbed the stairs. He saw himself in how she had acted at dinner. He was pretty sure he'd heard the sound of metal against metal when he asked her down for dinner. He remembered the first night he slept in this house, under this roof...

He hadn't looked at Evelyn all through dinner, and as soon as he was done was excused to his room. He had curled up into a ball shaking and waiting for the worst to happen. He already thought the worst of this single women who had taken him in. He heard her coming up the creaky stairs, and felt the bed shift under her weight. He cringed curling further into himself. Evelyn had just sat their as Bobby cringed waiting for her to do what the other women who had housed him the years over had done. Evelyn just sat there the entire night. He had felt her arms pull him into a hug. For the first time in Bobby's life he cried. He'd always believed that crying was a sign of weakness, but he learned that night that Evelyn didn't think of tears that way. She just held him while he cried rubbing small circles on his back. When he'd cried all his tears he looked up into her eyes.

"Why?" Bobby had asked barely above a whisper.

"Why what Robert." Evelyn had responded.

"Why aren't you touching me?"

"I don't think I know what you mean."

"Every other women has touched me down there." He looked down at himself.

"Do you want to be touched down there by someone like me?" Evelyn raised her eyebrows.

"No, but...but I just thought that's what moms do."

"What gave you that idea Bobby?"

"Ever since I was little the moms at the other foster homes would touch me there. It gave me these weird feelings, and I didn't know what to do. They wouldn't let me touch myself even if I wanted to. They would put their mouths down there. It felt good, but disgusting. They made me touch them in their down there places too, and I didn't like doing that. Some wouldn't feed me until I'd put my mouth and tongue in places where I didn't want to. There was one mom who fed us spagetti covered in her monthly blood." Bobby shuttered, "She made all of us eat what was on our plates down to the last crusty blob. I just want a mom who doesn't poison, touch me or make me touch her."

"That will never happen Bobby I promise, and I will prove it to you one way or another. Go to sleep, honey, you're safe now."

Evelyn sat there next to Bobby a broken shell of a boy until he fell into a peaceful sleep. She'd done everything she'd promised and more for not only him, but also his brothers. If there was one thing that Bobby wanted more than anything in the world it was to find someone like his mother. She had been kind and caring. She'd never pushed any of the boys to tell their story, and when they did she hadn't told a soul except Queenie, he figured. That women was a saint who had raised four degenerate bastards into some semblance of normalcy and the ability to fit into the world around them.

Bobby leaned against the door frame wondering how to approach the situation now before him. He knew he couldn't do what his mother had done all those years ago not if she was like Jack. Jack hadn't handled the move that easily. Bobby was lost in memories of days gone by until he heard the barely perceivable sound of a hammer on a gun being cocked back. His head flashed towards the source of the sound knowing now his assumption that she had a gun was confirmed. He was starring down the barrel of a gun in the hands of a fifteen-year-old girl.

"What do you plan on doing with that?" Bobby asked looking from the gun to her determined expression.

"If you take one more step towards me I'm going to pull the trigger." Lily smiled a cold blooded smile that reminded Bobby painfully of Jack.

"I don't think you will."

"You don't think I knows what goes on in single parent houses?"

"What do you think goes on?"

"I think grown-up people think they can do whatever they fucking want and not get found out. They can prey on children, and get money to do so. They can fuck around with us, but as soon as we fight back because we're done playing their shitty games they send us away and refuse to give a definable reason why because they're too busy shoving their cocks and pussies in the faces of the next poor child."

Bobby straightened from his leaning position, and surveyed the young girl before him with fresh eyes.

_What horrors has she had to endure in her life to push her to this point? What did the people who were supposed to be taking care of her do to her that's making her act this way? _Bobby thought to himself, _She's so much like him. God how I miss him. Fuck it's all my fault that he's no longer here. I was a fucking idiot going after Victor Sweet the way I did thinking that everything would be okay. I have to fix her. For Jack, for ma._

Cool metal pressed against Bobby's head dragging him back into the reality of the situation. He was unarmed, and a fifteen-year-old victim of abuse held all the cards and the power.


	9. So That's What Happened

**A/N:** Hello my wonderful readers. I just wanted to let you all know the reasons why my chapters are so short. As I've mentioned previously I'm a full time student, and I'm trying to write about 1,000 words a day. So I have about three chapters written by the time that one updates.

**Chapter 9**

"I'm not going to let you touch me." her voice shook. Bobby's hands had automatically risen.

"What makes you think I'm into fifteen-year-olds?" Bobby said looking at her rather than the gun.

"You're male." the sentence just hung in the air like a weight.

"Meaning?"

"There has only been one, ONE man who never once attempted to touch me in a sexual way. He's the only one who gave me a means to protect myself against shit heads like you."

"Who was that?" Bobby asked gently.

"My grandfather. He's the only good man I know." Lily's voice diminished.

"Would you believe me if I said you hold no sexual interest for me?"

"How many times do you think I've heard that exact sentence?"

"Every home you've been in. Trust me I know. I was once in your shoes. My brothers too. Jack more than all of us. Trust me I know."

"Do you?" Lily laughed sardonically, "Do you really know what I've been through?"

"Why don't you put down the pk380 and we can talk about it." Bobby slowly lowered her hands maneuvering the gun out and into the back of his pants.

Bobby guided Lily to the bed and sat down a safe distance from her. He noticed things about her that reminded him of Jeremiah when he'd come into the house. How her shoulders shook. How she was soft-spoken as she processed what was going on. These were the traits that Bobby had helped Jerry overcome, and it was through that process that they had become as thick as thieves and the closest of brothers. Her eyes were vacant as she began to tell her tail.

"It started when I was four, so eleven years ago." She began, "My dad would come home from his work functions and he used to come in and just tuck me in, but this one night was different. He woke me up and told me to change out of my PJ's for a bath. I did even though mom had already given me a bath. It was the first time that someone had ever touched me like that down there. I was four. Four fucking years old. Who does that to a four-year-old? I didn't know what was going on, but he called me his dirty girl from that day on. It was only when I told my mother that I knew something really bad was going on, and she knew about it too. Apparently my father had stopped doing these things to her and she hated him for it. Which, I honestly think, is her reason for never telling anyone about what was happening. This kept going until grandpa found out around my eighth birthday. He walked in on my father trying to have sex with me. I was eight, EIGHT!" her voice rose startling Bobby, "From there it's been one perverted bastard after another. Not long after the wives found out they were taking a crack at it too. I've been touched, licked, finger fucked, and had a few things shoved up my ass that don't belong there. The women made me touch and lick them back because their husbands don't like doing that, and the bastards shoved their cocks down my throat that I would vomit and they would just keep going."

Bobby sat their stunned. Never had he in his life heard such a horrific tale from a fifteen-year-old. She had been through the shitter, and yet she was still standing strong before him, though with a gun in her hand as a form of protection. No wonder foster parents had her ejected from their homes. She was willing to fight back. Any girl willing to fight for her dignity deserved a place in the Mercer family, love support, and devotion. Bobby had made up his mind this was a case much worse than his own had been, and he was going to do right by her.

"I'm very proud of how brave you are by telling me this." Bobby lightly put his hand on her small shoulder, "I know how hard it can be to tell someone especially a stranger whom you think is going to hurt you what your past was like. I want you to know you don't have to tell anyone this ever again. But I am going to tell Queenie because she needs to know what has happened to you so that those people never see children ever again."

"You looked at me instead of the gun." Bobby barely heard her.

"What?"

"You looked at me instead of the gun. Most bastards look straight at the gun and start hyperventilating. You looked at me, and stayed calm."

"Let's just say I've seen guns that close enough to know that the person holding them truly means business, and it's better to look them in the eye than at the object that is pointed at your head."

"You some kind of cop?"

"Fuck no!" Bobby chuckled, "I just know how to take care of my family by any means necessary, and if that means starring down a few gun barrels to protect what I love then so be it."

"What made you like that?" Lily scooted a little closer to him.

"I came from somewhat of a similar background, but my mom Evelyn Mercer took me in and adopted me into her family. I learned really quickly what it was like to be apart of something bigger than yourself. I learned how to love and receive love. She adopted my three brothers two of whom I would really like you to meet."

"What about the third one? Where is he?"

"Hopefully wherever my mom is."

"They're dead, right? Like my grandpa?"

"Yeah."

"You look guilty. I'm sure whatever happened isn't your fault."

"You're observant."

"I would hope so after being tossed around like a sex toy for the past seven years. I would like to meet your family...maybe one day if I deserve it be part of it." she whispered the last part to herself.

_She's a Mercer, ma. I don't know how I know, but I know. _Bobby thought to himself, _I would go to the end of the Earth to protect her. She's got the Mercer fire and spirit. Somehow I know she's supposed to be my daughter. Thank you, ma for sending me one who I feel has the ability to love a fiercely as you loved the four of us._


	10. Family?

_**Author's Note: I know you guys have been wanting me to write more per chapter so here you go. It's two weeks of work, and 2,104 words. I'm going to try not to cliff hang you guys again, but it might happen since this second half of my semester is project heavy, and I might not get to write as much as I would like to. I'm going to try and keep writing 1,000 words a day, but it might not happen. I hope you guys enjoy. If you like it please review.**_

**Chapter 10**

It was the first time since she was four that Lily had slept through the nights. She had listened. He treated her like she was worth something. It was something new for her. She had always been treated like she was lower than dirt by everyone except Queenie and her grandfather. She opened her eyes to the bedside table on which sat the gun she had threatened Bobby with.

Bobby had watched her fall asleep the night before. He tucked her in and placed the gun on the bedside table. He walked to his bedroom and sat on the bed to process. He thought about everything Lily had told him. He thought back to his brother and the circumstances that had led to his death. He hated himself for pulling Jacky into the search for their mother's killers. He knew that Jack would have tagged along anyways, but he could have done something to stop him. Since Jack's death Bobby had been depressed, not that he would actually admit to it. Having heard Lily's story made him miss Jack and his oddities. He looked at the clock and realized he had been up most the night. He decided it was time to call Queenie, and risk her wrath. Bobby picked up the phone on his bedside table and dialed Queenie's home number.

"Do you realize what time it is Bobby Mercer." her agitated voice rang over the phone.

"She told me, Queenie." he stated softly. He was met by silence for a good minute.

"She told you?"

"Yeah, and it's not good."

"How bad are we talking Bobby?"

"Think Jack, Jerry, and me all mixed into one frightened young girl." Bobby sighed into the phone, "She's been abused in ways I wish didn't happen in the world, but sadly as we both know it happens more often than not. She's done and experienced more in eleven years than most children do after they're grown and married. Queenie, it's worse than you expected. She pulled a gun on me. She thought I was going to do all those things to her."

"She pulled a gun!" Queenie yelled

"Yes. I wasn't expecting it, but at least she knows how to protect herself. I took a look at it, and it's been kept in basically pristine condition. She obviously knows how to take care of it, and I'm assuming that it's why so many foster homes have had 'problems' with her."

"But she pulled a gun on her new foster parent!"

"Queenie you know how I was when you placed me with ma. If I had access to a gun you better believe that I would have been using it to protect myself from the whores who called themselves parents. Queenie, I'm fine and everything is okay. I know how to handle a girl with a gun. I acknowledged the person and not the weapon. She's just a scared fifteen-year-old who needs to know that the place she's in is safe. Which is why I'm letting her keep it."

"You're letting a fifteen-year-old keep a gun? A gun she pulled on you in your home?" Queenie screeched.

"Yes. I want her to know that I trust her, and by giving her back the gun she pointed at me it allows her to trust me. It tells her that she has to power in situations like she's been in and it allows me to know that she feels safe in this home. I don't want her to think that I'm going to abuse her like that." Bobby explained.

"I get your thought process, but at the same time Bobby you have to set boundaries. I'm just wondering how she kept that gun a secret from her previous social workers."

"The stuffed dog that she never lets out of her sight. It smells like gun cleaner for those of us that know the smell."

"Really?"

"Yes. It has what I can only assume is a Velcro pocket to conceal the weapon from people assuming it's just a stuffed animal, but she would keep it with her in case someone tried to look further into it." Bobby smiled to himself, "She's a smart fifteen-year-old I'll give her that. There's just been a lot of bad shit done to her."

"Can you have her or you write it out for me?" Queenie sighed.

"I honestly don't think that she's going to want to talk about it again. I can write it out for her, but Queenie I'm telling you it's not pretty and it's definitely a situation like Jack. You of all people know that he only told ma."

"I know. Write it out for me and if we need anymore I'll come down myself and ask her some questions."

"Sounds good Queenie. Sorry for the late hour, but I had to call and let you know."

Bobby heard the sounds of movement in the room down the hall. He knew she was awake, but he decided to give her time to explore.

Lily skirted out of her room to the bathroom. She locked the door behind her out of habit more than anything. She stepped into the shower and was out in ten minutes. She threw her shoulder length hair up in a messy bun, foregoing makeup, and dressed in a pair of jeans and a baggy hoodie. She snuck downstairs praying she didn't wake the man upstairs. She surveyed her new home. It was homey. Too homey for a bachelor to be living in. It was obvious that Bobby hadn't decorated the house. She snorted to herself. This home had the markings of an older women who had a good long life, but the house had a heavy feeling she couldn't explain. The house itself was small, but you couldn't tell it from the inside. She moved slowly through the house finding her way to the kitchen, and what she found there was amazing.

The cupboards weren't padlocked, the fridge was huge, there were pots and pans on display, and it showed all the signs of a full working kitchen. She searched through every cabinet, pulled a pan down, grabbed a few eggs, some bacon, and some slices of bread to make herself breakfast. She had never been in a house in which she could cook for herself. Everywhere the cabinets and fridge were locked and the bitch or the bastard had worn the keys around their neck like the fat greedy bastards they were. She started cooking the bacon running back up the stairs to grab her Nook from it's hiding place in the floor.

As she was flying out her door Bobby was emerging from his room. She stopped abruptly skidding toward the stairs. Her eyes wide with uncertainty.

"Hey." Bobby grunted, "Sleep well?"

"I guess. I see you didn't take the pk380." Lily shuffled backwards.

"Last night I was telling the truth. I'm not going to touch you like that." he shook his head.

"I'll believe it when I trust you more." she rushed down the stairs.

She kept watch over the bacon sitting on the counter her nose stuck in her Nook. Her eyes flicked over the screen with a rapid grace that Bobby hadn't seen. She was lost in the wonder of her book only looking up on occasion to flip the bacon or flip the eggs. She covered her eggs in cheese, buttered the toast, and put the perfectly cooked eggs on the toast and layered the bacon on top finishing off with the rest of the toast. After running into Bobby in the hall she had come back down the stairs and made some toast, bacon, and eggs for him. She plated his food and brought it to where he was sitting on the couch watching something on the television. Standing as far away from him as possible she held out his food.

"You didn't need to make me breakfast." Bobby rolled his eyes.

"I figured it would be a good way to get in your good graces, and the fact that the cabinets and fridge don't have locks I figured you would want something." Lily shrugged walking back to the kitchen.

"You don't have to sit in there." Bobby said over the television noise.

"My food's in there."

"Bring it out here."

"O.K." Lily said skeptically.

She sat in the chair furthest from where Bobby was on the couch. She ate in silence studying the person in front of her.

"So do you work?" she said harshly.

"I do, but I'm off this week since Hockey season doesn't start for another few weeks." Bobby answered.

"You play hockey?"

"I ref for the Detroit Leagues."

"Cool. I've always wanted to learn how to play." Lily saw his eyes light up, "It seems like such a violent sport. You know a way to let the aggression and anger."

Bobby smiled, "I was the Michigan Mauler."

"No way! My grandpa used to watch hockey just because of the Michigan Mauler. He always said 'That guy knows how to play the game with just the right amount of dirt.' It was one of the few times we ever were together before he died and we were watching a game."

"It's good to know that someone appreciated the way I played. Since then I was banned from hockey as anything but a ref. It sucks."

"Could you teach me to play like you?"

"You would be okay with that?"

"It would be a good place to start building the whole trust aspect of this 'relationship,' but I swear to God if you touch me in a sexual way I will shoot your balls off." She grabbed his plate from the small coffee table and walked into the kitchen.

"I would expect nothing less of a Mercer." She heard him chuckle.

"What did you say?"

"I said, 'I would expect nothing less of a Mercer.'"

"But I'm not a Mercer."

"I hope one day you'll trust me enough to adopt you. So you can become a Mercer."

"Wait a second." Lily looked straight at Bobby, "I've only been here for less than a day, and you're already wanting to adopt me? I'm fifteen. Nobody wants to adopt a fifteen-year-old. They're more trouble than they're worth. Eventually you'll be paying for college or whatever shit I want to do, and I'm not cute like the little kids or the babies."

"I don't want little kids. I want kids that were like me when my mother adopted me and my brothers. We were the worst kinds of fuck ups you've ever seen, and she loved us all enough to give us a home where we felt safe and cared for. If she wouldn't have adopted me I guarantee you that I would be serving life in prison right now."

"But I'm not good enough to be part of any family. Everyone's made that perfectly clear." Lily cried as she raced for her room slamming the door behind her.

Bobby's face fell as she ran up to the room. This was a situation that he needed Jerry's gentle personality for and he knew it. He grabbed his cell phone from the table and dialed Jeremiah's number.

"Hey Jerry. Did I catch you at a bad time?" Bobby asked.

"No, I just dropped off the girls at school. I've got about an hour before work. What's going on?" Jerry sounded exhausted.

"I need your help. I was hoping you Cam and the girls would be okay with coming over for dinner at Ma's tonight? But I have to warn you the girl from foster care is more than rough around the edges. She thinks she's not worthy of a family, and I need you to help show her that she is worth it, and more importantly that she's worth being a part of this family."

"I'll see what I can do, but I'm not making any promises Bobby. You and I both know how minds like that think. Hell, we used to be minds like that. I'll talk to Cam, and I'll have an answer by lunch. Although I'm pretty sure she'll be fine with the idea."

"Thanks Jerry. I'll see you tonight. Oh and don't tell Angel. I think the best way to approach this is slowly, and meeting everyone probably wouldn't be a good idea right away."

"Got it. See you tonight. Bye Bobby."

"Bye Jerry."

Bobby got off the couch and started cleaning in an effort to put his best foot forward for the first family dinner in what he hoped to be a long-standing tradition. He was already nervous because if this didn't go well Angel and Sophia could only make it worse.


	11. Friday Night Dinners

****_Hello Readers! Yes I know I've taken way to long to update. I hope the fact this chapter's length makes up for it. I'm hitting major writers block as I'm getting further in so I've decided to ask you lovely readers to PM me with ideas of where you'd like the story to go from here. I have the "bones" of the story laid out in my head I just need some of the filler or "meat" if you will. If you don't want to that's fine, don't feel obligated, but I wouldn't mind feedback. :)_****

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

"_I hate making calls like this."_ Jerry thought to himself as he called his wife. Ever since Bobby had come back into their lives Cam had been less than pleased, and even though Bobby had finally found a heart for lost children he felt she would still have a problem going to that house for dinner.

"Hey baby." Jerry chimed into the phone.

"What is it, Jerry?" Cam asked pulling the laundry from the dryer.

"Bobby called."

"What did he want?"

"Us to come to dinner tonight." Jerry began to anticipate the yelling.

"Why would he be reaching out to us?" Cam sighed.

"The girl doesn't feel like she deserves a family, and he thinks that a gentle talking to will help."

"Would it have helped you adjust to a family after what you went through?"

"No but feeling loved and wanted went a long way. I think that's what Bobby is truly after, but doesn't realize it."

"You think we can do that?"

"I think the best thing we can do is try, and I think the girls might be able to sway her in the right direction."

"Using our girls as an enticement?"

"Maybe, but I think it would seriously be worth it to try. They did ask before I dropped them off when they would get to meet their cousin." Jerry leaned against his car.

"Well then I guess I better figure out what to bring over that says 'Welcome to the Mercer Clan'." Cam laughed, "Call Bobby and let him know we'll be there."

Lily had spent most of her day secluded in her room wondering if Bobby was for real. Did he really want her in his family? She couldn't wrap her head around what he had let out of the bag. He was basically saying he wanted her to be a part of his family, to be his kid. She'd taken the gun and cleaned it about four times since coming up to the room. She'd organized all of her hiding spots so that if need be she could hide more. She had counted the money she'd made doing odd jobs that her previous foster parents hadn't known about.

All too soon she heard a knock on her door.

"Lily I would really like it if you joined me downstairs for dinner. We have some company over that I would like you to meet." Bobby leaned against the doorpost.

She considered not going just because she honestly didn't trust this guy. He may seem nice, but that didn't mean anything. All the other men had seemed nice at first; it was when she defied that things got messy.

"Let me change I'll be down in a minute." She retorted, a slight edge still cutting her tone.

"We're not a dressy family Lily." Bobby commented through the door.

"And I can't come downstairs in sweats that smell like gun cleaner."

"Understandable - just please be quick about it. They've been wanting to see you for a while."

"Be right down."

Bobby walked away from Jack's room. To him it would always be Jack's room. He couldn't get used to the fact that there was someone living in Jack's old room. He smiled thinking about the kinds of trouble he would tag along for and get into by himself. He blamed himself for what happened letting Jacky tag along for another misadventure of the Mercer boys. It felt like yesterday that he was exacting his revenge on the bastards that killed his mother, the woman who had loved him unconditionally through all the shit he pulled. He wondered for what felt like the thousandth time what Evelyn would do in this situation.

Lily interrupted his thoughts as she opened the door.

"Do I look presentable?" she asked; Bobby noticed she must be dressed in the nicest clothes she owned.

"You look like you're going to church." Bobby laughed.

"What are you laughing at?"

"You realize this is just a family dinner. You don't have to dress up any to impress anyone." Lily leveled a glare at him then turned and closed the door, barely resisting the urge to slam and lock it behind her. She could hear Bobby laughing quietly as he moved to rest back against the doorpost. "They just want to meet you. Put on a pair of jeans and a band tee."

"How did you know I have band tees laying around?" she asked through the door.

"Because you have that air about you." Bobby sighed.

"One day you're going to have to tell me about the person you're talking about, because I know you don't have a clue as to what type of person owns band tees without having met one in your life." Lily finished as she opened the door and stepped out toward Bobby.

"One day, but that day isn't today." He said as he turned from her and walked toward the staircase.

They made their way down stairs where Jerry, Cam and the girls were waiting. The table was set and there was a mixture of take-out and home made food creating a savory smell that made Lily's stomach growl.

"Have you not been feeding her, Bobby?!" Cam smacked Bobby upside his head.

"He's been feeding me, ma'am. I've just been up in my room all day. I completely forgot about lunch." Lily lied through her teeth.

"Yeah…I don't buy that, but I'll rent it for now. Let's eat."

They all sat down at the table. Lily surveyed the people in front of her with a look like they were going to cook and skewer her for dinner. She didn't know how to react in these situations. All she'd ever know was yelling over bills and how many kids were or weren't there for dinner. She'd known nothing like this peaceful conversation that was flowing around her. Her trance was interrupted by a small voice to her left.

"Hi, are you lily?" Danielle asked.

"Yes, why?" she tentatively poked at the food on her plate.

"Because we're cousin's now." The little girl beamed up at her bringing a fork to her mouth.

"We can have sleepovers, braid each other's hair, paint our nails, and do make-overs." Amelia smiled cutting her chicken nugget.

"_What the fuck is going on?!_" Lily thought to herself, _"These girls are treating me like family already. How the fuck do I respond to this?"_

Bobby sat across from Lily watching her interaction with Dani and Amelia hoping something they said or did would leave and impression that they truly wanted her in their family. He wanted her to trust him and the rest of his family. He smiled as the girls continued to chat, and Lily seemed to nod in the correct places to keep the girls interested, and later in the night she even asked a few questions of her own. Jerry even started to notice how she was warming up to his girls. He could tell Cam wasn't happy that her daughters were chatting with someone like Jack; even he didn't know all the things that Jack went through. He hadn't had the balls to ask back then, and now that both his mother and Jack were dead he'd never know. He almost thought he saw Cam smile when Lily asked the girls about their favorite toys with actual interest.

After helping clean up, the girls went off to the living room while the adults stayed in the kitchen to talk over how best to proceed. The girls talked about books and games they could play or talk over next time they were together. The adults couldn't help but smile as they heard giggles and all out laughing from the girls in the other room. Bobby wore the biggest smile of all sensing his plan was working, slowly, but working never the less.

Bobby and Jerry had told Cam their stories long ago before Jerry had proposed to her. She knew she was dealing with a whole new animal considering this was a girl who had been abused and there were more emotions and distrust that come with the fairer sex. She knew Bobby had no idea what he was dealing with which was why she was planning a time where the two of them could just hang out. Jerry knew tonight he was going to have to share his story and explain just what Evelyn and this family had done for him.

Lily was amazed Bobby's family didn't treat her like dirt for not being blood. It was something so different for her that she was astonished that Jerry's kids were already calling her cousin Lily. They had talked all night about planning a sleepover and games. They seemed so relaxed around her, which was a completely new experience for her. She couldn't believe that anyone would want her. Jerry sat her down later that night, after Cam had taken the girls home, to tell her his story in finally finding a home with Evelyn - his and Bobby's mother.

"I was a messed up kid." Jerry started after the girls had been put in his old room, "It was a hard life for my mama. She didn't want any kids, and in her profession it was a real bad idea to get pregnant. Some Joe knocked her up, but wouldn't pay for anything and had a 'family' of his own to take care of. Her pimp was none too happy having a 'good money maker' off the streets for nine months because of an 'inconvenience' she wouldn't get rid of. She left me on some fire station steps not long after getting out of the hospital. I was an unwanted child and I'd grown up knowing and believe that. I got into a ton of messed up shit from drug dealing to prostitution of the girls in the foster homes who had 'daddy issues.' There was only one thing that ever changed me. That was the promise of family, a real family." Jerry paused to take a breath and let it fill the silence. He couldn't help the pleased feeling he got when he noticed Lily actually seemed to want him to continue…there was a look in her eyes – something that he could only describe as walls fracturing, the realization that you're not the only person in the world with a fucked up life taking root in her mind.

He continued: "Yeah I still got into shit, but not nearly as much as I had been getting into before, and that was all due to Evelyn, Bobby, Angel, and Jack. They were my family before I met Camille in high school. I knew she was my future, and I'd have to clean the fuck up before I asked her shit. She and my girls are my 'main' family now, but that doesn't me that I won't always have a soft spot for my brothers. They kept me out of deeper shit than I was ready for. I can't count the number of times that I would have ended up in a police station if they hadn't stepped in when they did. Family is what it's about. If you don't have family you don't have shit." He leveled his eyes directly at Lily.

"I see it in your eyes; you don't think you're good enough or proper enough for a family. Let me tell you something. We've all felt that way at one time or another. Even if you were born into this family I can guarantee you'd feel that way at one point. It's a fact of life wanting to be a part of something bigger than you, and for foster kids that normally starts in or with a family. I would really like to call you my niece." Jerry inhaled deeply, making sure that Lily was still looking directly at him. When he knew what he had just said had not completely scared the shit out of her, he continued: "Just think over what I've said over; Bobby is one of the better ones out there. He might not be perfect, but he's been where you are."

After telling his story, Jerry asked Bobby to take him home.

"Lily I trust you to be alone in the house and not destroy everything, ok?" Bobby looked at Lily.

"Yes, sir." Lily looked back at him taken aback by the honesty and kind look in Jerry's eyes as he'd told her his story, as he said goodnight to her.

Bobby and Jerry left Lily alone to think over the day and what went on. Lily ended up in her room cuddled with her stuffed dog contemplating everything Jerry had said and told her. She just didn't know if she could truly trust this family since Bobby was keeping a secret locked up tight in his mind. She knew it had something to do with the room she was in, and she wondered what could have been so bad that it would shut him up. She looked around wishing for one second she was in a fiction book where the walls could tell the story of the previous tenant. That thought carried into her dreams.

* * *

><p><em>The dream started like most when she thought of fiction, she was in a small dark space. She normally equated this with the fact she'd fallen asleep in a closet more than a bed over the years. There would be a sliver of light that would guide her into the next room of her dream. On the floor of this room was a small boy curled in a ball, a position she knew very well. It was the position that all abused kids take when they are ashamed. This small boy was skinnier than those she'd seen at her other foster homes, and she wondered if he wasn't feed because he wouldn't perform the very acts that made him assume this scared, ashamed position. She tried to approach the boy, but when she did he shuddered, like she had the first time she'd given in to the demand of the foster parents pleas, needs and wants. He was ashamed with himself for allowing it to go that far, this she knew. The door behind him opened and Lily was drawn into another room where the lady from the portrait downstairs looked down on this small boy who was in front of Queenie, the child services agent.<em>

"_I've got another one for you, Evelyn." Queenie sighed._

"_I figured that's why you were here. You know I don't have much room left in this house." Evelyn smiled kindly down at the boy, "Room for just one more in my family."_

_The boy looked like he wanted to bolt on the spot, his eyes shifting this way and that like he could find an escape route that would take him away from the horrors he imagined lay in wait for him through yet another door. Lily recognized that look. It was the same look she had each time she was shuffled through another house of horrors, the same look she'd given Bobby Mercer on their first meeting. The boy was ushered into the house and was immediately tackled by a larger boy who resembled Bobby in more ways that sheer bulk. The boy cowered holding tightly to a teddy bear his only form of solace in this new environment. The teddy looked well loved and worn, there was a small rip along its neck, and one of its arms looked about ready to fall off. The boy backed away from the older boy who had tackled him straight into the corner between the stairs and the front door. Evelyn sighed and yanked Bobby away from the smaller boy._

"_What did I tell you?" she reprimanded him._

"_Don't jump on people who are smaller and weaker than you?" His eyes gleamed of mischief._

"_Incorrect. Try again."_

"_Be nice to the newbies."_

"_Closer than last time." She sighed, "Now go play outside with your brothers._

_The older boy did as he was told leaving the house. The younger boy gave him a wide berth as he passed scared this kid would be the one to inflict the horrors of his past upon him again. Evelyn's eyes softened as she turned away from the boy back to Queenie who had stayed surprisingly silent during the whole exchange._

"_I'm going to assume," Evelyn began quietly, "He's going to be a keeper?"_

"_From what I can gather, yes." Queenie sighed, "You've seemed to break through to Bobby."_

"_He's a tough nut. I'll give you that. Defense mechanisms coming out of his ears, but he's getting better, and he's not getting into as much trouble as he used to. Seems to be settling down more and more each day."_

"_That's good." Queenie's eyes sparkled, "Well I'll leave you two alone."_

"_Do you want to see your room?" Evelyn turned to the small boy._

_All the boy could do was nod his head. The sooner he got this part over with the sooner he could hide. Evelyn took him up the stairs to the exact room Lily was now occupying. They passed through the door, but the walls were blank and the bed was the same. The boy looked around as if expecting something else, more beds, more children, something. He looked up at the lady silently asking her if this could indeed be real. All the lady did was nod at him with a light in her eyes the small boy had never seen. He felt within him self a sliver of hope that she wasn't like the rest, but he stamped that thought out as soon as it arose. She would have to prove herself before he let him self feel that false sense of security he'd felt in every home before this one where women and men preyed on those that still had that tiny glimmer in their eyes, taking pleasure in breaking their spirits and causing them years worth of irreparable pain. He wouldn't let this lady do that to him. Lily saw that determination on his face. It was that look that had gotten the older children in the foster homes before Bobby's out slightly unscathed. The boy starred at the room a long time before Evelyn got down on her knees before him._

"_I want you to know this is a safe place. I promise not to hurt you. I know you don't trust me, but I hope one day you can feel safe and comfortable here. This is your room. There is a lock on the door in case you feel the need to use it. There isn't a lock on the cabinets or fridge. If you want something just ask me, ok? Now I'm going to go downstairs. If you need me just call, ok?" she said then stood and walked down the stairs._

_As soon as she was out of sight she heard the door close and the lock click into place. Not long after that she heard soft weeping coming from the room. Lily watched as the small boy curled up into a ball around his teddy bear and cried. She realized he had no way of protecting himself from anyone who had tried to hurt him, and so he was broken. She tried to reach him to comfort him, but there was nothing she could do. She could feel herself being pulled from this fictional work her mind had created. This dream world that wasn't real._

She awoke with a start and stared out at the grey pink light of dawn. She told herself then and there she would find out about the boy who had lived in this room. She would try to make Bobby tell her something about him, or maybe she'd never know.


End file.
